Cisco ChengApple MacBook Pro 17-inch (Core 2 Duo T7700)It continues to be the lightest 17-inch laptop on the market, but now Apple throws in the fastest components to date, as well as a 1080p resolution.

It continues to be the lightest 17-inch laptop on the market, but now Apple throws in the fastest components to date, as well as a 1080p resolution.

The Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch (Core 2 Duo T7700; $3,799 direct) is the only 17-inch laptop that can be labeled as both a thin-and-light laptop and a desktop replacement. It's thin-and-light in that it weighs a mere 6.7 pounds, yet with its drool-inducing 17-inch widescreen, it can kick your current desktop to the curb. But this shouldn't be news to anyone. This form factor has been Apple's formula for success since the first MacBook Pro 17-inch debuted in 2003. The latest revision involves gutting the inside of the laptop to make room for Intel's Centrino Duo platform. And for video perfectionists, you can now get the 17-inch MacBook Pro with a 1,920-by-1,200 resolution.

Similar Products

Keeping an entire laptop line to a thickness of 1 inch while upgrading performance parts every six months isn't an easy task, but Apple has figured out how to do it, and do it well. It's even more amazing that the 17-inch MacBook Pro is able to come in under 7 pounds, whereas its peers, the Dell Inspiron 1720 and the HP Pavilion dv9000t (Vista), both weigh more than 8 pounds. The reason for this may be that Apple's use of an aluminum-alloy chassis gives it more flexibility in molding laptops. Or perhaps it's just sheer engineering ingenuity that allows Apple to come up with great designs.

The area surrounding the keyboard follows the laws of simplicity, clean of any marketing stickers, extra media buttons, and tacky colors. Individual keys are tagged with subtlety in mind. Each letter, dark on a silver background, looks less prominent as you move away from the keyboard. The strong white letters against a black keyboard, like the ones found on the dv9000t (Vista), seem an eyesore when compared with those on a MacBook Pro. Both the full-size keyboard and the touchpad are centered with respect to the 17-inch widescreen, adding to the uniformity. The single mouse button further contributes to the symmetry.

The screen is the type that calls out to video professionals, photographers, gamers, and media enthusiasts. Apple adds to its appeal by offering an option for a glossy, 1,920-by-1,200 screen resolution, which is what I received for testing. If you haven't been a big fan of watching movies on a laptop, this screen will definitely change your mind. It's not as bright as the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (LED) of the MacBook Pro, but the color detail and picture quality are still mind-blowing. It's a $100 upgrade; Apple offers other screen options that are just as impressive. The higher-resolution screen also paves the way for Blu-ray drives to come (although Apple hasn't announced that yet, it looks like a done deal).

Prior to this revision, temperatures were uncomfortable on the MacBook Pro for any type of lap work. It's now actually one of the few 17-inch laptops that you can place comfortably on your lap for a good length of time. With a combination of better power management and cooler operating components, the MacBook Pro 17-inch (Core 2 Duo T7700) is now lukewarm instead of piping hot. As measured with a Fluke IR thermometer, temperatures did not break 100° F, even in the base. The palm rests and keyboard are comfortable when you're surfing the Web and word processing. Running a DVD movie or performing a more aggressive task will add a little heat to the outside but not enough to be uncomfortable.

With the feature set, Apple continues along the lines of simplicity, which could be both a good and a bad thing. I love that the webcam is practically unnoticeableit's only the size of a square in the game Minesweeper. The iSight camera is probably the best webcam in the industry. The dual-layer DVD burner is slot-loaded, meaning that instead of a tray that comes out it has a slot into which you insert the disc, like a CD player on a car dashboard. The three USB ports compare unfavorably with the Dell 1720's five, but they're more than enough for external peripherals. The MacBook Pro 17-inch comes with a 160GB hard drive. You can find hard drives this size on sub-$1,000 laptops; the difference is that this one spins at 7,200 rpm. You can upgrade, of course, but for this kind of money I was looking for a standard configuration with a higher capacity than 160GB. The only complex thing about the feature set is the extensive software suite that Apple throws in free. It's worth mentioning because it's the best in terms of giving you an excellent photo editor (iPhoto), video editor (iMovie), audio editor (Garageband), and DVD playback interface (iDVD), with remote (FrontRow).

Performance is nothing less than fantastic, but I wish Apple would offer the 17-inch model with a less-pricey configuration, as it did for the MacBook Pro 15-inch (LED). My configuration costs $3,799. Of course, it has the fastest Intel Core 2 Duo processor (the 2.4G-Hz T7700), 3GB of RAM, and a gaming-worthy graphics card (the nVidia GeForce 8600M GT). The T7700 processor is a $700 premium. If Apple offered other processor configurations, would-be Apple converts would come flocking to the site. Another complaint: The $750 the company charges for a RAM upgrade (from 2GB to 4GB; the 3GB that my unit came with is not listed on the site) is outrageous. Granted, this is Apple, but this crosses the line between luxury and gouging consumers.

I ran SYSmark 2007 Preview benchmark tests under Windows XP Pro using Apple's Boot Camp software. If you plan on using Parallel's virtual client for dual-booting Windows, I suggest upgrading the RAM to 4GB, even if you have to do it yourself. In SYSmark 2007 Preview Overall score, this MacBook Pro outperformed the Dell 1720 by 19 percent. The Apple's Photoshop test results were 16 percent higher and video-encoding tests were 6 percent faster than those of the Dell. It beat the Dell 1720 in every aspect, except for battery life. The Inspiron 1720 does have a bigger (85 Wh) battery than the Apple's (60 Wh). The MacBook Pro 17-inch (Core 2 Duo T7700) managed only 2 hours 25 minutes running down a DVD movie.

The one thing holding me back from giving the Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch (Core 2 Duo T7700) an Editors' Choice is the lack of less-expensive configuration options. What you do get for your money are the fastest components on earth, with the new Intel Centrino Duo platform and an impressive screen resolution. It's the type of desktop replacement (or thin-and-light laptop) that current MacBook owners, as well as would-be Apple converts, will drool over, whether or not they can afford it.

Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch (Core...

Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch (Core 2 Duo T7700)

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.